


A Piece Is Enough

by Zodiac



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Amaurot (Final Fantasy XIV), Amaurotine Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Ambiguous Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Angst, Echo flashback, Other, POV Second Person, Patch 5.0: Shadowbringers, Takes place immediately after the Hades fight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:02:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24858838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zodiac/pseuds/Zodiac
Summary: You didn't expect there to be anything left after Hades' defeat. But there was. And you would be damned if you were going to forget it there in the middle of that forgotten city.
Relationships: 14th Member of the Convocation of Fourteen/Solus zos Galvus | Emet-Selch, Solus zos Galvus | Emet-Selch/Warrior of Light
Comments: 4
Kudos: 51





	A Piece Is Enough

You didn't expect there to be anything left.

There had been nothing left behind with Nabriales. Nor had even a sliver of auracite remained when you defeated Igeyorhm. Lahabrea was a whole other matter entirely; every last drop of his aether guzzled down by that power-hungry primal's sword rather than being trapped in a far-too easy to shatter crystal like the other Ascians. Not a scrap of dark cloth, not a single wisp of any of their essences had remained behind.

But that was then. And this was now.

Now, you stood atop the ruined capital building of what was once some mockery of Amaurot, the long-twisted wreckage of those spires and skyscrapers dotting the landscape far beneath you, glinting darkly in the sunlight cutting through the gloom that smothered this place only minutes prior. Solus, no, Emet-Selch, no…  _ Hades _ had given you the hardest fight in your lifetime before you bound him in auracite and shattered him into pieces. After the battle, he had appeared in the garb of the Ascian he was and told you,  _ implored you _ to remember him and his fallen city before vanishing into the Lifestream.

...But not all of him.

Sitting there on top of the building with you was a shard of that auracite only about an ilm in length, the once white surface of the crystal tainted a purple so dark and deep that it seemed to absorb the light rather than reflect it. The color of a mockery of royalty.

The color of your enemy.

Gazing into its tiny, devouring depths, you wondered what you were going to do with it; you certainly couldn't just leave it there for someone to find like what happened with Nidhogg's eyes. For the briefest of moments, you considered treating it like any other shiny bauble you had taken from the primals you defeated; fashioning it into an elaborate trophy or memento like lesser men would wild game.

You dismissed the notion almost immediately. Such a fate would be unbecoming for someone so… human-like, someone so very close to mortal that he had tried and failed to bridge the gap countless times over the centuries.

Instead, still pondering, you bent down to pick it up and froze as soon as your fingers made contact with the smooth surface, your free hand flying up to clutch your head as all-too familiar pain exploded from deep within.

_ "Stop this immediately!" The annoyed, all-too familiar voice was the first thing that reached your senses in the fuzzy, dream-like haze brought about by the Echo. Drifting through the airwaves beneath the voice of the man who had just died before your eyes was tinny, but upbeat, jazz, filtering through a radio in another room. His hair may have been completely white and he may have been wearing the heavy, shapeless robes of Amaurot, but you could tell the man was Hades by his unmistakable voice and golden eyes, though the way he was attempting to squirm away from and lightly flail at the other person in the room was very unlike what you knew of the Ascian. _

_ "Come on, Emet-Selch!" And just as you recognized Hades, you were able to tell precisely who the other masked, robed person was… despite how long you suddenly realized it had been since you heard such joy, such  _ **_happiness_ ** _ in your own voice. They…  _ **_You_ ** _ were leaning in towards Hades even as he unintentionally did his best impression of a pet hearing it was bath time, your hands reaching to attach something to his ear. "It'll look so goood on you!" _

_ After a few moments, you managed to attach the thing to Hades' earlobe despite his incessant struggling and, as he straightened back up in defeat, you, the present you, were able to tell that it was an earring, the self-same teardrop-shaped earring that you always saw him wearing. _

_ "Only one?" The pout was all-too evident on both his face and inflection. "After all that hassle, you saw fit to only gift me one earring?" _

_"Oh,_ ** _now_** _you desire it, Emet-Selch?" A chuckle, free from the crushing burden of being the Warrior of Light and Darkness. "I was not sure you would like it, so I only made you the one, but I can certainly make a matching one if you want it." A tilt of a hooded head, a mischievous smile crossing lips. "You look very good wearing a small piece of me… though I will admit to being biased."_

_ "A small piece of you, hm…?" A hand that you know crushed countless mortals and commanded armies in the future reached up, cradling the earring with gentleness you didn't think Hades capable of. A smile curled his lips, tenderness mirroring his touch as he raised his hood back up over his head, the fabric evidently having fallen during their little tussle. _

_ "I suppose I can accept this." _

And then you were back in the here, back in the now, head aching, able to feel how your lungs expanded and contracted, how your blood rushed through your veins. Every return from an Echo vision left you uncomfortably aware of your meaty body, the sensation of having working flesh feeling brand-new.

But you didn't dwell on the feeling. Not this time.

Instead, after a couple moments to regain your bearings, with a gentleness you no longer thought yourself capable of after all the bloodshed and all the loss, you took the shard into your grasp and tucked it safely away in one of your pockets before slowly starting to make your way out of that ruined city.

You knew what you were going to do with that sliver of crystal now.

* * *

It took you a while to gather the remaining materials, certainly. You wanted gold that was just the right shade—not too shiny and not too dull, and you quickly lost track of the otherwise priceless chunks of the stuff you painstakingly pried from the earth only to discard. Eventually, however, you managed to find a piece that suit your specifications, much to the relief of the local miners, surely. Then there was the adhesive, the strongest you could get your hands on. Such a material was hard to find even amongst gatherers, so you reluctantly turned to someone you knew could get their hands on anything imaginable, Rowena. After a bit of haggling and lightening your pockets of some Allagan bits and baubles, she sent you on your way with a glob of adhesive.

And finally, with materials in hand, you made your way to Ul’dah.

You could craft anywhere you pleased, yes, but something this special required a delicate hand and a trained eye… and after all she had helped teach you over the years, you hoped Serendipity would serve as both in addition to your own skills. She, of course, was happy to oblige, overjoyed at your mere presence in the goldsmithing guild after so long apart. When you pulled out your materials, she took a keen interest in the shard of auracite and rambled on about possible guesses as to what it could be and how she’d love to study it further, but a muttered explanation that you would rather not discuss details about what you had brought with you quickly fielded off any further questions.

She had enough respect for you as a friend and fellow goldsmith to offer you that, at least.

After showing her the design you had in mind, you began to grind away at the raw ore you had, whittling it down bit by bit to suit your vision. By your request, Serendipity offered no suggestions about the design, only speaking when there was any possibility of you ruining it. Once you had the gold shaped, you took up the piece of auracite, hesitating slightly as the worry of another Echo flashback flitted through your mind; here would be a horrid place for one. When none came, you mentally breathed a sigh of relief before using the adhesive to attach it to the gold the same shade as Hades' eyes. Once it was set, you delicately lifted it and slipped it into the hole in your left earlobe. Gazing into one of the mirrors set around the guild, you could dimly hear Serendipity exclaim about how you had made yet another masterpiece, but you didn’t really process it, only having one thought in your mind.

_ A small piece of him… to remember always. _

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed this and wanted to screech at me in a manner similar to socializing, then you can find my Twitter right [here](https://twitter.com/HippestGlitch).


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